


Serendipity

by lilithenaltum



Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Bisexual Loki (Marvel), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), F/M, Loki (Marvel) Gets a Hug, M/M, Multi, Poly Shuri, Polyamory, Romantic Fluff, Short & Sweet, Shuri's Broken White Boys, past Brunnhilde/Loki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-05-29 22:16:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15082880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilithenaltum/pseuds/lilithenaltum
Summary: Loki recovers from his fight with Thanos in Wakanda and finds love with not one, but two, beautiful people.





	Serendipity

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little present for both my WinterPrincess girls and my Loki girls, because Loki deserves all the love in the world. ♥ ♥ ♥

 

 

> _serendipity_
> 
> ( **n** ) finding something good without looking for it

* * *

 

 

When Loki wakes the first time, he is entirely unsure of where he is. He’s not even sure what he is at this point, his last memories distinctly being of Thanos’ large hand around his windpipe and the burning, searing pain in his lungs as he struggled to take one final breath.

 

_You will never be a god._

 

He jerks forward then, but is stopped by the multitudes of tubes and restraints holding him down and that is when he really starts to panic. Wherever he is, and whomever has captured him, he is at their mercy and cold dread settles in the pit of his stomach at the thought that Thanos won, that his sacrifice was for naught, that he is back in the Sanctuary and the torture will begin soon. He imagines his skin will begin to flay; he almost anticipates the sensation, nearly vomits around whatever contraption is in his mouth and down his throat.

 

He can’t use his hands. He starts to gag and choke around the thing, whatever it may be, violently pulling at the constraints that hold him to the bed. He is going to die again, he knows, suffocated and alone in some hell he has no name for.

 

He doesn’t hear the voice calling his name until he goes under once more.

 

* * *

 

The second time Loki awakes is infinitely more pleasant.

 

He’s slowly aware of a plush mattress underneath him, of soft sheets wrapped about his body. His head rests on what feels like a cloud and there is a light beeping somewhere in the background. When he peels his eyes open, heavy and sandy with sleep, there are no bright lights or tubes, and he lifts his hand heavily to find he’s no longer constrained.

 

He finds he’s almost more afraid of this than what he’d woken to earlier. Something as soft and pleasant as this is almost more than likely a deception. And he’s so tired. He either wants to die or be done with all this.

 

Loki tries to turn his head but finds he’s thwarted by something hard and rigid along his neck. He lifts the same hand and slides trembling fingertips along the smooth brace, curious to know exactly what it is that keeps him from being completely mobile. And so it’s with an excessive amount of effort that he rolls over to sit up in the bed, taking each inch a bit at a time, cursing the weight of his own body and the lethargy that has claimed him.

 

Ten minutes later and he finally sits, though he’s dizzy and woozy and his stomach flip flops with the need to vomit. He’s almost fairly sure there isn’t anything inside him to vomit; Norns knows how long it’s been since he’s eaten anything. And it’s while trying to focus on getting his legs to work enough that he can stand does the door to his room open. The sudden movement causes his heart rate to spike and he can hear the beeping behind him get faster and more frantic as he stares wide eyed and helpless at whomever is coming to see him.

 

“You’re awake.”

 

The soft, lilting voice is followed by a brilliant, friendly smile and Loki finds he’s almost dumbfounded. She reminds him of summer, of the warm rains that blessed the valley, of the fresh flowers in his mother's gardens. Her eyes sparkle like stars, her smile breathes into him fresh air, and he hopes he can hear her speak once more because her voice...her voice is the loveliest thing he has heard and he is dying to hear it once more.

 

He has no clue who this beautiful creature is, but she doesn’t raise any alarm in his body. He actually feels his adrenaline start to drain, can feel his pulse thump a little bit slower. Some of the tension in his body slips away when she walks to him slowly, her footsteps soft and careful, her hands in front of her non-threateningly. He opens his mouth to ask who she is, but finds he can’t speak a word. His tongue is too heavy and his mouth too dry and for whatever reason, any effort he makes to even get out a gasp comes across as only a raspy dry rattle.

 

And then he remembers he’d had his throat crushed and that he probably no longer even had the capability to talk and he can feel a heavy, depressing weight settle upon his chest.

 

“I suppose I should have been here when you woke,” she says, in that same soft, sweet voice she’d greeted him with. “Would have probably made this a lot easier. But no, you cannot talk.” She looks apologetic about it. He blinks and clenches the gown he’s wearing with fumbling hands. “At least not yet. I’d have hoped you would stay in the coma for a few more weeks. I’m not quite done with the prosthesis yet.”

 

Loki raises a brow, or at least he thinks he does. His whole body feels like it’s under sand, and he can’t be sure which muscles are working the way they should be.

 

“I know you have so many questions for me, so I’ll try and answer as many as I think you may be anticipating. First of all, my name is Shuri. And you’re in Wakanda. This is my laboratory; I’ve set you up inside a specially crafted hospital room so that you can recover. I’m almost certain  you should be back to 100 percent within the month. You’ve lost your voice because you no longer have vocal cords; I had to extract those and I am currently in the process of creating you a new set. You probably will not be able to walk for a few days at the most; you’ve been asleep for over a year and your muscles have atrophied. I tried to prevent as much of that as I could, but..”

 

Loki holds up a hand as he’s bombarded with the information and Shuri looks at him sheepishly.

 

“Bast, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to throw so much at you. If you’ll give me a moment, though, I have something that will help you to communicate. At least, with me.”

 

He wants to nod but remembers he has a brace about his neck so he settles for waving once more and he watches as the young woman leaves the quiet, peaceful room. It takes her only a few minutes to return, but in those short intervals of time, he allows himself the opportunity to weep.

 

He is safe. Broken, maybe, but safe.

 

* * *

 

She brings him back a contraption that sticks to his temples. She explains that it’s meant to capture his thoughts and process them into language so that she can understand.

 

“I have one of them as well and will for as long as it takes for me to finish your vocal chords. And then soon, you’ll be able to talk once again like normal.”

 

It’s a learning curve to use the thing; his every thought can be transmitted so he has to censor what he says in order to not deliberately send her things he doesn’t want her to see. She takes it in stride, however, never once mentioning the nightmares he has or his decidedly pitiful thoughts of harming himself and of suicide. Instead, she sits with him and chats for long hours, sends him things to read, and tells her a bit about what has been going on in the year he has been asleep.

 

Shuri, he learns, is a princess and a scientist, and probably the most incredible person he’s met in a very long while. She is kind, funny, generous, and feisty, and she makes him feel warm and welcomed and safe. He wonders if she knows the kinds of things he’s done for her to treat him like an actual person and not an oddity or a threat. He deduces later on that she simply does not care.

 

So it is no surprise that by his fifth day awake he finds himself growing quite fond of and attached to the beautiful girl. He holds her in a special spot in his heart, the same place he held his mother and brother and the Valkyrie. He asks after them and she tells them about their progress on the Aesir settlement in Norway, updates him on Thanos’ demise, comforts him when he learns that his brother and his once lover were engaged to wed.

 

 _I suppose it shouldn’t feel like a betrayal_ , he tells her through the device and she nods sympathetically. _But it most certainly feels that way._

 

“Were the two of you exclusively together?” she asks, out loud because he insisted she speak to him. He liked to hear her voice, not just in his head, but through his ears and across his skin. He felt as though he could absorb every decimal of her beautiful voice and savor it like candy.

 

 _No. We weren’t truly anything._ And that was most definitely true. But it didn’t mean he hadn’t hoped whatever dalliance they had would develop into something deeper. He’d felt something for Brunnhilde he hadn’t felt for anyone in a very long time. And now, it seems, it was all a waste.

 

He’d somehow thought that without filtering it because Shuri shook her head and took his large hand in hers. His grip wasn’t very strong still and his skin temperature was so cold still that she still couldn’t touch him for longer than a few seconds, but he was getting better. By tomorrow, he hoped to be up and walking. He was so tired of sitting in bed, doing exercise after grueling exercise.

 

“I think that whatever feelings you have for anyone are valid,” she says. “Even if they weren’t reciprocated the way you wanted, they meant something.” She smiles, and it’s a little sad. Loki gets the impression that she’s speaking from experience and that bothers him more than it should. Who had dared to break the heart of someone like Shuri?

 

 _I will take your counsel as truth_ , he thinks, humor in his thought to make her smile and when she does, he can feel his entire body warm all over.

 

* * *

 

 

Thor and Brunnhilde come to visit him soon after. He’s sure he will collapse under the anxiety of anticipating their visit, but he sends thought after frantic thought to Shuri and she walks him through it all, even in the midst of her work, and he is calmer and better for it. He lies back in bed, propped up against the plush pillows and watch a movie in the Wakandan mother tongue, grateful for Allspeak and his proclivity for language that allows him to easily follow along. It’s a love story, of a scoundrel who falls for a chief’s daughter, and though the premise had the potential to be trite, he finds that the acting and dialogue are rich with depth and meaning.

 

The door to his room cracks open as he watches television and Shuri pokes her head in, smiling at him and making his heart beat faster. He can’t get over how beautiful she really is, and he returns the smile without even thinking. And then a very familiar face joins her, his blond hair still cropped short and a pair of blue eyes looking him over in anticipation. Part of Loki is terrified of this, but the other part, the part that had woken up alone and scared in a foreign place, weeps at the chance to see the brother he’d thought he’d never get to again.

 

“Brother?”

 

Loki offers what he hopes is a casual smile, but he knows it comes out as more of a grimace because the sob that builds up inside his chest is threatening to burst loose. He smothers it down as much as he can, though he can feel tears prickle at his eyes, and he moves slowly from the bed, swinging still weak legs off the edge. He moves to stand, but can scarcely get his feet on the floor before Thor is across the room and pulling him into his arms.

 

And for just a moment, he allows himself to feel, to indulge in the warmth that is Thor Odinson. His eyes slip shut for a fraction of a second and he slides his hands up the expanse of Thor’s back, pressing his fingertips into the muscle there, only long enough that he knows that this is real. And then he moves back and pushes him away, cocking a brow nonchalantly like he always does.

 

_You oaf. What took you so long to come see me?_

 

Shuri blinks for a moment and then laughs, shaking her head as if she’d forgotten she’d have to translate. She does so to the almost watery laughter of Thor.

 

“I’m sorry, you guys. He’s still mute, right now. But I’ve got a handle on his thoughts so…”

 

“You mean to tell me you’re actually going to give him his voice back?” Loki hears, and he raises his eyes toward the door, where Brunnhilde stands casually, as beautiful as when he’d saw her last. He feels something inside his chest ache and he purses his lips together tight, as if he could make a sound and give himself away. But she’s always been able to read him well; she sees right through him and he’s surprised to see that her face looks near remorseful.

 

“We actually thought you dead, if you’re wondering why.”

 

Loki shakes his head and sinks back to the bed, cognizant of Thor’s hands still on his shoulders, and the heavy weight of him sitting at Loki’s side. He glances between his brother and Brunnhilde and shrugs, as if there’s nothing to it, as if it hadn’t hurt to know she’d chosen the golden son over the unwanted.

 

_I didn’t wonder about anything, actually. Don’t trouble yourself with feeling sorry for me._

 

Shuri scoffs at that but translates anyway, her voice perfectly capturing his particular brand of sarcasm and in spite of the fact that his heart still aches, he smiles.

 

“I never said I felt sorry for you,” Brun grumbles, but she doesn’t push it any further, and Loki knows that she at least felt bad about the whole thing. He’s aware that he shouldn’t be bitter; love sometimes happened when one least expected or wanted it to. Perhaps there hadn’t ever been anything Brun could do about their eventual connection. Loki hopes that soon, he’ll stop feeling sore enough to let it go.

 

“Anyway, if you can walk, you’re invited to the wedding. Only if you wanna come.”

 

Loki sighs internally and makes a face, but he knows that regardless of the hurt he may feel, he will be there, Shuri willing.

 

 _I would be delighted. So long as the wine is at least marginally decent, I think I can survive your nuptials._ He pauses and holds up a hand so that Shuri waits before her translation, and then, softly he adds: _Congratulations, darling. I hope you’ll be very happy._

 

He did. He’d only wished that it would have been with him. Brun's almost surprised smile, though, makes up for the regrets he has. And for now, that will be enough.

 

When Thor and Brun leave for their rooms in the palace, the promise to come by again tomorrow morning and have breakfast, he lies back in bed and stares at the ceiling for a long time. He’s surprised that this hadn’t hurt more, and he knows without a shadow of a doubt that it has less to do with the passage of time and more with the princess of Wakanda. He is falling for her, he realizes, and that scares him just a little.

 

He falls asleep and dreams, and for the first time in weeks, there are no nightmares.

 

* * *

 

 

It takes him a few more days to get any trace of his seidr back, but when he does, it’s like turning on a once rusted spigot. He actually has to focus on controlling his powers, much the same way he had as a child doing lessons with his mother in the gardens. It’s comforting in a way; he has sharp memories of her voice guiding him as he learned to reign in the magic that swirled about in his veins and he revisits those as he sits in bed and starts the process all over again. This time is a little easier, though. Much like walking had been a chore at first, after two weeks awake, he finds he has almost mastered control of his seidr and he spends most of the day adjusting and readjusting the room about him for lack of anything else to do.

 

“Have you read everything I sent you?” Shuri asks him, when she comes to visit that evening. She’s in an exceptionally chipper mood, and he wonders what has made her so very happy. He doesn’t think it could possibly be him. His progress, perhaps, but most definitely not him. He won’t even get his hopes up for that.

 

_I have. Have you anything else I can get into? I quite enjoy the ones written by Octavia Butler._

 

“My favorites, too. Nakia sent me those the first time she went to Oakland. I’ve been in love with everything she’s written.”

 

So she sends him more books to the little ipad device he uses to read on and he curls up in the cozy cushion to sink into _The Parable of the Sower_. He’s halfway through the third chapter when there’s a sharp knock on his door and he almost calls out for Shuri to come in before remembers that he still can’t physically speak.

 

_You must know by now, princess, that you need not knock. My door is always open for you._

_Huh?_

_…are you not at my door?_

_No. I’m a few levels up. Give me a moment; I’ll come down to see who it is._

 

The knock comes to his door three more times before he hears Shuri’s voice outside. Whomever she’s speaking with is someone familiar because she sounds so very happy, laughing and jovial in her conversation.

 

“You, Sergeant, are late,” she’s saying as she opens the door to his room, and it’s then that Loki gets his first glimpse of James Barnes.

 

* * *

 

 

If he’d felt something stir in his body for Shuri after only five days, he feels some sort of wild kinship with the handsome stranger that sits across from him with the princess after barely an hour. He is beautiful, tan and tall (though not as tall as Loki) and broad of chest and shoulder. His hair falls in luscious brown waves to his shoulders and his smile is a crooked, sweet thing, especially when Shuri says something that makes them both laugh. Loki’s chuckles are silent shudders of his chest, and James’ are rumbling thunderous things that make his pulse tick up a few notches higher than normal. Loki finds himself leaning in to catch the little things that he says, because his voice is so very pleasant to listen to. It’s not nearly as sweet as Shuri’s, no, but it’s got a good rhythm to it and he likes the accent that filters through.

 

But it’s his eyes that really captures Loki.

 

There’s a sadness to them that resonate so much with Loki, a sadness that springs from a pain so deep that Loki is sure that nothing could truly ever heal it. They are beautiful eyes even in their sadness; a grey blue that reminds Loki of winter and frost, of the first freshly fallen snow, of the sharp tang of metal and the piney woods of Asgard, high in the mountains. He’s suddenly very homesick and he feels his face fall as he dwells on his loss. Shuri, of course, notices and he’s surprised but very much comforted to know that James does as well.

 

“Are you tired, Loki?” Shuri asks him, in that gentle voice of hers. He means to nod yes or think that he is, but instead he confesses, in rambling, jumbling words, what is going on in his head and his heart. And when Shuri reaches out to grasp his hand, James follows and Loki doesn’t pull away.

 

He goes to sleep that night feeling decidedly more like a person than he has in a very long while.

 

* * *

 

 

James insists that Loki call him Bucky, and offers him a lovely leather bound notebook so that they can communicate. Loki writes him long letters in sprawling, scrolling script; Bucky responds in the direct and to the point print of someone who’s accustomed to keeping his thoughts to himself. But Bucky’s letters get longer and the correspondence more personal until Loki is almost sure that he knows enough about James Barnes to know that he’s in love with him, just as much as Loki is in love with Princess Shuri.

 

It startles him the morning he realizes it, and he’s almost afraid to put the thought into the universe because he’s almost sure no one could really love him. A select few care for him, he knows; his brother loves him, probably, and Brun cares in her own way. Heimdall cares as well, he knows, and has always had a bit of a soft spot for the youngest prince, even at times when he definitely didn’t deserve it. But no one has loved him in a very long while, not since his mother died.

 

So he doesn’t dwell on that thought for longer than that moment. He pushes the emotion away and settles for the friendship they develop. There is an understanding in Bucky for Loki that no one else quite can comprehend, not even Thor. And there is a goodness to Shuri that inspires the best in Loki, that pushes him to work harder in his exercises and to forgive himself, bit by bit, for the wrong he’s done. It isn’t by any miracle, but by the kindness of these two people who have only known him a month that he finds the best parts of himself and those parts flourish.

 

And it’s Bucky he clings to when the surgery to get his vocal cords rebuilt is finalized.

 

He doesn’t want to admit how terrified he is. There’s the slim chance he’ll never speak again, that Shuri won’t truly hear his voice, that he won’t be able to tell Bucky his best japes and make him laugh. The written word was a beautiful form of expression, but there was nothing at all like having the freedom to speak. He missed it, and more than he’d ever thought he would.

 

But he sucks up his fears and meets the morning of his operation with a clear head and mostly brave face. Shuri grasps his hand like she always does and there’s something in her eyes that tell him he has nothing at all to worry about.

 

“Even if this doesn’t work…even if…” She shakes her head and blows out a breath and Loki realizes she’s as nervous as he. This is her work and if it does fail, she’ll feel entirely responsible. He looks over to where Bucky stands on the opposite side of the bed and reaches out his hand to take the other man’s, warmth spreading through his cold skin deliciously.

 

“She’s a genius, you know. Our Shuri. She’ll fix you right up and you can sing along with me like you wanna.”

 

He wants to believe that so much. He clings to the promise Bucky makes him to be there when he wakes and Shuri’s kiss to his brow soothes him as the medication she gives him drags him under into a blissfully unaware slumber.

 

* * *

 

 

The third time Loki wakes, the quiet cadence of two voices he would know anywhere filter through his head.

 

At first, he doesn’t understand what they’re saying, only that their words are hushed (probably so as not to disturb him) and almost anxious. He keeps his breathing slow and his eyes closed and strains to listen. What he hears stuns him so much that he nearly gives himself away.

 

“You think he’d go for something like that?”

 

“I don’t know…I really…maybe? I know he thinks a lot of us both. And if Thor’s right, he doesn’t think very highly of too many people, humans especially. That has to mean something.”

 

“He doesn’t look like the kind to share, sugar.”

 

There was a soft giggle and then what Loki could only assume a kiss and something inside him wanted to curl up and die. He’d known that Shuri and Bucky were fond of each other, almost too fond, but there had always been the slimmest chance that their fondness wouldn’t develop past close friendship. From what he could hear, it seemed it had, and probably right underneath his nose.

 

Even so, he continues to listen, reprimanding himself for jumping ahead in their conversation when he didn’t have all the details. And he’d heard something about sharing, too. His heart jumped at the prospect. If they were tossing about the idea of the three of them together, well…

 

He hushed his thoughts, hoping that Shuri wasn’t paying attention and kept listening.

 

“I think he would. I read those letters he sent you. He absolutely adores you, my love.”

 

“I mean…we’ve got a lot in common, so…”

 

“He thinks the sun sets in your eyes, Bucky,” Shuri says with a laugh in her voice. Definitely no jealousy or possessiveness there. “He’s so poetic when he writes you. I don’t know why I didn’t think of getting him a journal for me.”

 

“You know, if you’d read all of ‘em, you nosy rosy, you’d have learned he’s got his heart set on you. Hell, half of those letters are all about you.”

 

“Uh huh. The two of you talking about me, hm?”

 

Loki cracks open one eye just in time to see Bucky to his left, a blush spreading from his chest to his cheeks and the sight is so adorable he can’t help but laugh. And that’s what gives him away, his silent laughter and the shake of his shoulders.

 

“Hello, sleepy head,” Shuri says softly, leaning down to kiss his cheek. She pauses there for a moment, as if to take him in and Loki dares to move his head just enough that her lips graze his own. Her reaction makes him smile so wide, he thinks his face will split in two.

 

 _Hello, my beautiful princess_ , he thinks.

 

But she says nothing in return, nor does she react. Instead, she stares at him expectantly, and Loki realizes he’s meant to actually _speak_. He’s suddenly so nervous to find out if this has worked; a warm hand on his makes him turn his head to Bucky, whose winter blue eyes gaze at him with a gentleness he’s never seen for anyone but Shuri. It gives him the courage to draw in a deep breath, open his mouth, and try out his brand new vocal cords.

 

“If I told the both of you that I loved you, would you believe me?”

 

There’s a pause for a moment, and then Shuri starts to laugh, excitedly tugging him close to her in the bed as Bucky gathers them both in his big arms. Loki is squished pleasantly in the middle, but he can’t think of much else except that it worked and he can speak and he starts to cry in spite of his natural inclination not to ever show a tear. He knows, though, that he can cry in front of these two people, these two beautiful, lovely people.

 

“I told you it would work, didn’t I? I told you our girl wouldn't let you down.” Bucky says, smoothing some of Loki’s long black hair from his face, and there’s a rush of breath against his face before the man kisses him, slow and thorough. It takes the air from his lungs and sets his heart on fire and he grasps onto him, holding him close as if he’d never get this chance again.

 

“I suppose I should have much more faith in your promises, Bucky,” Loki says a little sheepishly. His face burns red, he knows, and he turns then to his princess and smiles, lifting his hand to her soft cheek and blinking back tears of gratitude. “Thank you, beautiful girl. Thank you so much, I could never-“

 

He’s cut off once again with a kiss, and this one, a little shy but no less meaningful, draws a soft moan from his chest. He nuzzles her nose with his own when she finally pulls back and there’s a laugh bubbling in him that comes out like a fountain.

 

“You sound as lovely as I thought you would,” Shuri says, wiping tears of her own away. “I have a feeling I’m going to spend most of my time making you tell me stories. Just to hear you speak.”

 

Loki wraps his arms about both his loves and smiles at his luck. This wasn’t at what he’d been looking for and yet all he’d ever wanted, and it made him chuckle to think that sometimes the best things happened when one was least expecting it to. Bucky slips back down in the bed and he wraps his arms about Loki’s shoulder as Shuri curls around him tight. So he begins his first story, a tale he’s never told before of a tiny baby found in an abandoned temple and the family who took him in.

 

* * *

 

 

When Thor marries Brunnhilde, Shuri and Bucky travel to Norway with him for the wedding. It had been somewhat understood that Loki would remain there in the new Asgardian settlement, but there have been a change of plans. He’s almost reluctant to tell his brother he won’t be staying on, that he will be going back home to Wakanda.

 

 _Home_. He hasn’t had a home in a long time, but wherever the Princess and the White Wolf are, Loki knows he has one.

 

Brun makes a lovely bride, her smile bright and beautiful as she says her vows and becomes Thor’s wife. He knows now, after time to think about it, that he and Brun would have not made the best of life partners. But they’ll be the best of friends, and that’s all that matters. Besides, she makes Thor so very happy and he makes her smile, so Loki figures he can be thankful for that.

 

The wedding feast is a rowdy occasion, truly Asgardian in nature. So Loki isn’t surprised to find Bucky outside of the beautiful new palace, on the balcony, a drink in hand and his head to the sky. He studies the stars and names each one and as Loki sidles up to him, wraps an arm about his waist and presses a kiss to his jaw, he can feel his lover smile.

 

“Do you think that people become stars when they die, Loki?” Bucky asks, his voice floating out over the celebrations from inside. He has to be thinking of his family from his life before, of his mother and brothers and sister, his father, his friends from the war. Loki’s mind travels to his own mother and his father too, now, a man he has slowly started to forgive if only for his own wellbeing.

 

“I’d like to think so, yes.”

 

“So when I die…and you’re still here, will you name a star after me?”

 

Loki sucks in a breath and hesitates to nod but he does. It’s something he hates to really think about, the fact that he’ll outlive Bucky and Shuri and many of the Wakandans he’s come to care for and call friends. That hurts but that isn’t right now so he doesn’t dwell on the fact. Instead, he faces their mortality with the same sort of wistful wonder as Bucky does right now.

 

“A constellation, my love,” Loki promises, and he feels Bucky smile against his temple as he kisses it.

 

Another pair of small hands smooth across his back and Loki opens his arms to fold Shuri in, leaning down to kiss her sweet lips gently. She tucks a strand of hair back behind his ear and asks them what they’re gossiping about.

 

“Oh, not much. Just stars.”

 

“And the planets, too?” Shuri asks, and Loki hums indulgently. He slides his hand against her hip and presses her ever closer.

 

“And the planets, too. Shall I name a planet for you, sweetheart?”

 

Shuri shakes her pretty head and leans it against his shoulder. “Not at all. A solar system, perhaps. A galaxy.”

 

“A galaxy, then. One for you and one for Bucky. And one for me.” One for him much later when he finally joined them on the other side. He would find them again, he knew, in another life and they would love once more. That was his comfort and he clung to it tightly.

 

“We’d take over the entire universe,” Shuri says in an almost whisper, and Loki has to kiss her once more, and then pull her around so that Bucky can kiss her too. His heart is full to bursting and he stares up at the dark, velvet sky and maps out the constellations with stardust in his eyes.

 

_The End_

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr! Come say hi! Lilithenaltum. tumblr.com


End file.
